LEAWOOD, KS – Six months from full rollout of its electronic health records pilot project, the American Academy of Family Physicians is looking forward to its next venture."One of the things we're contemplating is doing other pilot projects," said David Kibbe, director of the AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology.

One option would be a larger project than the current six-physician EHR effort, Kibbe said. Another possibility is initiating a similar-sized project in collaboration with other IT vendors.

The AAFP initiative under way today includes six physicians across the country, most of whom have never met each other nor the participating software companies: MedPlexus, Hewlett-Packard and Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services Corp.

The intent of the project is to learn what it takes to implement an EHR system in a solo practice or a group practice with just a few doctors.

MedPlexus provided software and technical support, HP provided Tablet PCs and desktop computers, and Siemens is hosting the software on one of the largest data centers in the world, said Kibbe.

The technology firms have been very responsive, said Dr. Jon Wilson, who practices in Daly City, Calif. "It's like having your own development team."

Wilson is especially taken with the fact that the new system is Web-based. That means he'll be able to access the system at home or from any examination room. A Web-based system also makes sharing information likely.

The six physicians in the project have, until now, been in what they call "the sandbox," testing the system with fake data. At the end of June they went live.

Kibbe said the best outcome for the pilot would be that "we will learn a lot about what the real needs are for small practices for EHRs. We'll learn a lot about how to do the implementations without so much disruption," he said.